Officer Commissioning Programs: Costs and Officer Performance

Abstract

Current arms control negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union seem likely to lead to reductions in the size of U.S. military forces. The prospect of using the savings from cuts in defense spending to address the budget deficit problem will reinforce efforts to decrease strength levels substantially over the next several years. One consequence of these reductions will be drawdowns in the size of the officer corps, which will lead, in turn, to a decline in the requirements for new officers. Any such decreases in requirements will lead the services and the Congress to reexamine the appropriate proportions of new officers from the various commissioning sources. This CBO Paper reviews the three principal programs for commissioning officers: the three service academies, the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and officer candidate or officer training schools (OCS/OTS). It compares the commissioning sources by focusing on the cost and performance differences among them.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA529542

Entities

People

  • Jonathan Ladinsky
  • Marvin M. Smith

Organizations

  • Congressional Budget Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Arms Control
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Military Education
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • Military Training
  • Officer Personnel
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Service Academies
  • Students
  • Training
  • United States Air Force Academy
  • United States Naval Academy

Readers

  • Economics
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting